Thanksgiving!

 

Arthur Brooks in his essays about happiness in the Atlantic reminds us to practice gratitude--to list what you are thankful for.  I do this in my private journals and probably that is best.  

But here is a list to share for my blog--with its maybe ten readers--but also for our Blog2Print for 2024 to be put together soon.

I am grateful for family.  57 years ago we made our marriage vows and we have kept them.  And we were so blessed to have three children who married three wonderful spouses.  And now there are eight grandchildren ranging in age from almost 5 to 26. There are 18 in this photo including a boyfriend and a girlfriend for two older grandchildren. And our daughter is in charge of our Thanksgiving meal.   

I am grateful for Jim who is patient and loving to me and takes care of me as I take his arm to walk.  He always has done his fair share of household duties but he digs in more and more.  As I write this, he is taking the laundry out of the washer and putting it in the dryer. I am thankful for the NYT Spelling Bee and crossword puzzles that give us daily challenges to do together.  I am thankful for each day we have together and pray there will be many more.

I am grateful for prayer and know I need to trust more that all will be well when I pray for ourselves, our family, and very much now for our country.

I am grateful for medical help.  I have needed more help in the last month or so and I have found kind and competent people to take care of me.  And there has been healing.  I have expressed my gratitude to them and I know that has been appreciated.

I am grateful for friends--old friends who email and call and new friends here in Princeton.  To make new friends at our age is not something we take for granted.

I am grateful for Sacred Space, an online resource put out by the Irish Jesuits.  It always helps me have more peace of mind and a calmer spirit.

I am grateful for books to read, for Goodreads that helps me find and record books, for our wonderful library and for Better World Books and Amazon Kindle so I can order books easily.  

I am grateful for journals that I keep online--a therapy journal and a spiritual journal.  They let me express myself easily and for my eyes only! 

I am grateful for such a comfortable and luxurious place to live here at Barclay Square.  It makes it difficult to think of moving to a senior living community.  But if we choose to do so, we have the financial resources to make that move and for that also I am grateful.

I am grateful for music in my life--for Grace Notes Choir--for singing hymns in church.  I need to take advantage of making more music with my digital piano right here in our dining room.

I am grateful for a bit of mindfulness each day as I sit on our deck and get some sun on my face and listen to the far off traffic and rustling leaves and do my breath prayers of "healing in and fears out, gratitude in and worries out."  

I am grateful for this blog and for the memories we can access through the Blog2Print books I make for each year.

I am grateful for social media to help me be in touch with friends from many eras in our past.  I am grateful for news sources but have to be aware of too much doom scrolling leading to despair over our political situation recently.

I am grateful for our country but very concerned for the prospects of the next administration.  I have to accept that others see the world differently than I do and hope and pray that the next four years are not hurtful for many. 

"Bless the Lord, O my soul and forget not all his benefits."  Psalm 103:2 

November 29  Thanksgiving dinner was at Laura and Michael's home with Dan and Alex there too. It was  a feast in the dining room with the lovely china that Laura bought from the estate's previous owner.